Comparison of radiography, CT and MR imaging in detection of arthropathies in patients with haemophilia

Discordance between joint pain and imagery severity in the ankle joint and contributors of lower limb activity limitations in adults with haemophilia: A cross-sectional study

INTRODUCTION

People with haemophilia (PwH) suffer from knee and ankle joint pain, but the association with structural damage remains underexplored. They report activity limitations but it is unclear which factors contribute to lower limb activity limitations (LL-AL).

AIMS

This study aimed (i) to analyse the association between ankle joint pain and structure and (ii) explore the contribution of haemophilia-related, individual and psychological factors to LL-AL in PwH.

METHODS

This study included 104 moderate/severe PwH. Ankle pain intensity was assessed with a numeric rating scale and pain sensitivity with algometry (pressure pain threshold (PPT_A )). Ankle structure was assessed with MRI (IPSG-MRI) and ultrasound (HEAD-US), joint health with the Haemophilia Joint Health Score (HJHS). The HAL-LOWCOM subscore evaluated LL-AL. A Spearman correlation analysed the correlation between ankle pain and structure. The contribution of haemophilia-related factors (joint health, overall pain (Brief Pain Inventory-Pain Severity (BPI-PS)), functional status (2-Minute-Walking-Distance, Timed Up and Go); individual factors (age, BMI) and psychological factors (fear and avoidance beliefs over physical activity (FABQ-PA) and work (FABQ-Work), anxiety and depression) to LL-AL was explored using a regression analysis.

RESULTS

Only low correlations were found between ankle pain intensity and structure (IPSG-MRI, HEAD-US). PPT_A was unrelated to structure. Altogether, HJHS, overall pain (BPI-PS), FABQ-Work and age explained 69% of HAL-LOWCOM variance, with 65% explained by the combination of HJHS and BPI-PS.

CONCLUSION

No meaningful associations were found between ankle pain and structural damage, suggesting that other factors may contribute to PwH's ankle pain. In contrast, mainly haemophilia-related factors explained LL-AL variance.

The musculoskeletal manifestations of haemophilia: a review of the imaging findings

Haemophilia is a common hereditary cause of bleeding diathesis and the musculoskeletal system is frequently affected. Repeated episodes of haemarthrosis initiate a cascade towards haemophilic arthropathy, a disabling and deforming joint disease with both degenerative and inflammatory features, which include articular cartilage loss, bone erosions, and synovitis. Haemophilic pseudotumour and intra-muscular haematoma make up the remainder of the musculoskeletal manifestations of this systemic condition. Radiological assessment is vital in the assessment and follow-up of these haemophilic complications and MRI is the reference standard. This article summarises the radiological findings relevant to the diagnosis and monitoring of this complex patient group.

Ultrasound evaluation of joint damage and disease activity in adult patients with severe haemophilia A using the HEAD-US system

INTRODUCTION

The Haemophilia Early Arthropathy Detection with Ultrasound (HEAD-US) system and scoring scale has proven to be an accurate and time-efficient imaging method for identifying joint damage in patients with haemophilia.

AIM

Observational, multicentre, cross-sectional study conducted in 8 centres in Spain that assessed the joint status of adult patients with severe haemophilia A (SHA) using HEAD-US.

METHODS

Joint status of the elbow, knee and ankle was evaluated in adults with SHA receiving on-demand (OD) treatment, or primary (PP), secondary (SP), tertiary (TP) or intermittent (IP) prophylaxis.

RESULTS

Of the 95 patients enrolled, 87 received prophylaxis (6.3% PP, 38.9% SP, 43.2% TP and 3.2% IP). Mean age was 35.2 years, and 59% of patients had not undergone image testing in the last year. The HEAD-US score was 0 in all joints in 6.3% of patients. The ankle was the most affected joint, regardless of treatment regimen. Patients receiving OD treatment, TP or IP had the overall worst scores, mainly in the ankles and elbows; a similar but milder profile was observed in patients on SP; and patients on PP had the best score in all joints.

CONCLUSION

Joint function may be effectively preserved in patients with SHA on PP, but OD treatment or later initiation of prophylaxis does not seem to prevent progression of arthropathy. Disease worsening was observed in patients OD, TP or IP, most often affecting ankles and elbows. Closer ultrasound imaging monitoring may improve management of these patients.

Multislice spiral computed tomography imaging in evaluating hemophilic arthropathy

BACKGROUND

Certain hemophilia patients are unable to cooperate with or afford magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) examinations. The purpose of our study was to explore the value of multislice spiral computed tomography (MSCT) in evaluating hemophilic arthropathy (HA).

METHODS

Thirty-eight patients with 73 joints of HA were consecutively selected from January 2016 to May 2018 for this prospective study. All 73 joints were examined by X-ray, CT, and MRI within 2 days. The MRI scores of the joints were determined by the International Prophylaxis Study Group (IPSG) standard. The CT findings were quantified according to the IPSG standard, except for cartilage injury, which was quantified by joint space narrowing using the X-ray Pettersson score. The CT and MRI scores were compared by the paired Wilcoxon signed-rank test. The correlations between the CT score of joint space narrowing and MRI score of cartilage injury and the total CT and MRI scores were analyzed by Spearman rank correlation. The kappa test was used to compare the consistency of CT and MRI scores.

RESULTS

MRI was superior to CT based on the scores for small amount of effusion (P < 0.05), synovial hypertrophy and hemosiderin deposition in the mild groups (P < 0.05). The CT and MRI scores were not significantly different for moderate and massive effusion, synovial hypertrophy, and hemosiderin deposition in the moderate and severe groups, bone erosion or cystic changes (P > 0.05), and there was a high degree of consistency between the two scores (kappa > 0.81). The consistency between the Pettersson scores of joint space narrowing on CT and the IPSG scores of cartilage injury on MRI was high (kappa = 0. 774, P < 0.05).

CONCLUSION

The image scores of MSCT are generally consistent with MRI except for mild synovitis, which can be used as an alternative for the evaluation of HA.

Post-operative bracing after ACL reconstruction has no effect on knee joint effusion. A prospective, randomized study

BACKGROUND

It is unclear what factors contribute to knee joint effusion after anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury and reconstruction. Knee homeostasis after injury and surgery is crucial for rehabilitation and knee well-being. We examined if effusion was affected by post-operative bracing, and if patients with effusion fit into a common profile.

METHODS

Patients were randomized to wearing or not wearing a post-operative brace for three weeks after ACL reconstruction with semitendinosus-gracilis tendons. Knee joint effusion was detected by computed tomography in 60 patients (22 women), before and three and 12 months after surgery. Joint effusion, clinical and subjective tests were analyzed.

RESULTS

This is the first prospective, randomized study on post-operative bracing for patients with a semitendinosus-gracilis graft showed that bracing had no effect on three-months presence of joint effusion. Excessive joint effusion was present in 68% of the patients three months after surgery and was associated to prior meniscus injury (p=0.05) and higher prior Tegner activity level (p=0.006). We found a positive association between longer time from injury to surgery and joint effusion three months post-operatively (rho=0.29, p<0.05). Twelve months post-operatively, joint effusion had diminished to baseline levels. Subjective scores and activity levels were lower for women. Three-months joint effusion predicted lower final outcome scores in women.

CONCLUSION

Prior meniscus injury and pre-injury Tegner activity levels are predictive significant variables for excessive knee joint effusion after ACL reconstruction. Post-operative bracing had no effect. A larger clinical cohort is needed to confirm findings of this logistic regression.

Inflammatory focal bone destruction in femoral heads with end-stage haemophilic arthropathy: a study on clinic samples with micro-CT and histological analyses

INTRODUCTION

Focal bone destruction has a high prevalence in haemophilic arthropathy (HA) affected joints, but the mechanism remains unclear.

AIM

We undertook this study on clinic samples to explore the focal bone destruction in femoral heads suffered with end-stage HA.

METHODS

Twenty-one femoral heads from HA patients and 19 femoral heads from rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients were scanned by micro-CT. Histological analysis, including TRAP staining of subchondral bone were performed to evaluate the bone destruction and osteoclasts activity. RANKL, OPG as well as pro-inflammatory cytokines, such as TNF-α and IL-1β in subchondral bone were detected by immunohistochemistry (IHC) method.

RESULTS

Severe focal lesion was observed in all the HA and RA femoral heads by micro-CT imaging and histological analysis. The mean percentage of lesion volume to total volume of the femoral heads from HA patients was significantly higher than those from RA patients. There was no significant difference in osteoclasts numbers in subchondral bone between HA and RA groups. By IHC analysis, high expression of RANKL, TNF-α, IL-1β and low expression of OPG and RANK were observed in subchondral bone, and there were no significant differences in the expression of RANKL, OPG, RANK, TNF-α and IL-1β in femoral heads derived from HA and RA patients.

CONCLUSION

Our findings demonstrated the focal bone destruction coupled with inflammatory osteoclastogenesis at subchondral bone in femoral heads from patients with end-stage HA, and that was similar to the changes in the femoral heads of RA patients.

Controlled, cross-sectional MRI evaluation of joint status in severe haemophilia A patients treated with prophylaxis vs. on demand

In patients with haemophilia A, factor VIII (FVIII) prophylaxis reduces bleeding frequency and joint damage compared with on-demand therapy. To assess the effect of prophylaxis initiation age, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) was used to evaluate bone and cartilage damage in patients with severe haemophilia A. In this cross-sectional, multinational investigation, patients aged 12-35 years were assigned to 1 of 5 groups: primary prophylaxis started at age <2 years (group 1); secondary prophylaxis started at age 2 to <6 years (group 2), 6 to <12 years (group 3), or 12-18 years (group 4); or on-demand treatment (group 5). Joint status at ankles and knees was assessed using Compatible Additive MRI scoring (maximum and mean ankle; maximum and mean of all 4 joints) and Gilbert scores in the per-protocol population (n = 118). All prophylaxis groups had better MRI joint scores than the on-demand group. MRI scores generally increased with current patient age and later start of prophylaxis. Ankles were the most affected joints. In group 1 patients currently aged 27-35 years, the median of maximum ankle scores was 0.0; corresponding values in groups 4 and 5 were 17.0 and 18.0, respectively [medians of mean index joint scores: 0.0 (group 1), 8.1 (group 2) and 13.8 (group 4)]. Gilbert scores revealed outcomes less pronounced than MRI scores. MRI scores identified pathologic joint status with high sensitivity. Prophylaxis groups had lower annualized joint bleeds and MRI scores vs. the on-demand group. Primary prophylaxis demonstrated protective effects against joint deterioration compared with secondary prophylaxis.

A systematic review of MR imaging as a tool for evaluating haemophilic arthropathy in children

Our purposes were to determine: (i) whether there is direct evidence that currently available MRI techniques are accurate for early diagnosis of pathological findings in haemophilic arthropathy; (ii) whether there is an MRI scoring system that best correlates with clinical/radiological constructs for evaluation of haemophilic arthropathy; (iii) whether there is an MRI scoring system that best correlates with clinical/radiological constructs for evaluation of haemophilic arthropathy. Articles were screened using MEDLINE (n = 566), EMBASE (n = 201), and the Cochrane Library (n = 1). Two independent reviewers assessed articles for inclusion under the overarching purposes of the review by using the Standards for Reporting of Diagnostic Accuracy (STARD) tool, and the quality of the studies were graded using the Quality Assessment of Diagnostic Accuracy Studies 2 (QUADAS-2) tool. The electronic literature search retrieved 777 references (after duplicates were removed). A total of 32 studies were chosen for inclusion from the results of the search and review of bibliographical references. Using the STARD tool, seven studies were of excellent quality of reporting, and using the QUADAS-2 tool, 10 studies were judged to be of adequate quality. There is 'fair' evidence to recommend MRI as an accurate test for detecting evidence of haemophilic arthropathy and the use of second or third generation MRI scales for assessing haemophilic arthropathy. However, there is no evidence that screening of early intra-articular soft tissue bleed with MRI improves the functional status of joints over time.

Rationale for a randomized controlled trial comparing two prophylaxis regimens in adults with severe hemophilia A: the Hemophilia Adult Prophylaxis Trial

A major goal of comprehensive hemophilia care is to prevent occurrence of bleeds by prophylaxis or regular preventive factor, one or more times weekly. Although prophylaxis is effective in reducing bleeding and joint damage in children, whether it is necessary to continue into adulthood is not known. The purpose of this article is to describe a Phase III randomized controlled trial to evaluate prophylaxis comparing two dose regimens in adults with severe hemophilia A. I hypothesize that adults with mature cartilage and joints are less susceptible to joint bleeds and joint damage, and that once-weekly recombinant factor VIII prophylaxis, with up to two rescue doses per week, is as effective as thrice-weekly prophylaxis in reducing bleeding frequency, but less costly and more acceptable, with higher quality of life. The ultimate goal of this project is to determine whether once-weekly prophylaxis is any worse than thrice-weekly prophylaxis in reducing joint bleeding frequency, while potentially utilizing less factor, at lower cost, leading to a better quality of life. This is an innovative concept, as it challenges the current paradigm of thrice-weekly prophylaxis in adults, which is based on dosing in children. Furthermore, this trial will assess interdose thrombin generation, a novel tissue factor-based assay of hemostasis, to determine if individualized thrombin generation can predict more individualized prophylaxis dosing, which would be practice changing.